Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
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Chapter Seven
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Three months later
Honey sighed as a vision left her. She stood up slowly, her head spinning as she concentrated on breathing. She saw that Simon was waiting on the lounge as she exited their second room, which had been designed as a meditation room for her.
"Everything all right, Honey?" Simon asked, seeing the pale pallor of her skin.
"I think I need some air," she murmured, her palm against her forehead.
Simon was up and out of his seat instantly, the front door open for her in the next second. "Do you want company?"
She smiled and shook her head, pressing a brief kiss to his lips as she passed him. "I'll be fine. Be back later, don't wait up."
"All right, be careful," Simon called.
"I will. Love you," Honey replied with a smile, hoping to reassure him.
"Love you too," he replied, closing the door as she headed down the corridor to the elevator.
Honey stepped into the elevator, taking a moment to decide on which button to press. Up meant the Mad Professor's lab, and down meant... Well, it meant a whole lot more than a ten minute lecture on the importance of mass marketed ray guns. Her decision made, Honey pressed the button for a lower level and waited patiently for the doors to close.
The doors opened to reveal Warren, and Honey smiled at him warmly. "Just the person I wanted to see."
"Why's that?" Warren asked warily.
"Because I can get you to the Paper Lantern rebels," Honey said simply, pressing a button on the elevator to go down again.
...
Mrs. Woo didn't even blink twice when Warren came into the restaurant's foyer with Honey. In fact, if anything, Mrs. Woo looked annoyed. Warren's thought was confirmed when his former boss came over, berating him loudly for not coming back sooner.
"I'm still not even sure how I got out here, Mrs. Woo. How on earth was I meant to get here before now?" Warren asked.
"That's not the point! Now hurry, they're all waiting," she said, turning on her heel and leading him through the restaurant to the kitchen at the back.
Warren muttered under his breath, but Honey just smiled and followed after Mrs. Woo without a word. She knew that Warren had questions - she could almost feel them burning inside his head - but the time for questions and answers would come later.
The locker room was crowded with the three of them, but no one said a word as one of the locker's padlocks was spun by Mrs. Woo's expert hand. The locker opened, the back wall sliding away to reveal a set of steps down into the Paper Lantern Rebel's base.
The hallway at the bottom of the stairs had two doors, one on each side, and Mrs. Woo stood in front of the left door protectively as she indicated for them to go into the right. Honey hid her smile at the woman's gesture; she'd already seen the large training arena that the rebels had in her visions. The room that they went into had a selection of chairs set up, and from what Honey could see, a small representation of the full faction of the Paper Lantern Rebels. Mrs. Woo came in after them, closed the door, grabbed Warren's elbow and hauled him up to the front.
For the next half an hour, Honey stayed standing at the back of the room as Warren stood at the front beside Mrs. Woo, the rebels firing questions at him left, right and centre. He'd been at the Lab for a full year now, and it seemed that some of the rebels were reluctant to believe anything he said. They all knew about his relationship with Blossom, after all. Honey was surprised at how well Warren kept his cool at their accusations, and calmly answered the questions the best he could. But despite his calm attitude, Honey could tell that he was still reluctant to tell them everything. While she could see the future, Honey was no mind reader, and she had no idea if it was a sense of loyalty or pride, or even if his relationship with Blossom that was making Warren hold back.
Finally, the questions seemed to be over, and Warren told them what he'd learnt, the tale in his own words firmer than the hesitant answers he'd given. For those who didn't know Warren - or know his future explicitly - the information he told them would have been thought of as a betrayal of Blossom and the Mad Professor. But Honey, who knew his future, knew that this is exactly what needed to happen. It was the main reason Blossom had told her to take Warren to the Paper Lantern Rebels in the first place.
Warren finished explaining everything that had happened at the Lab since his arrival a year ago, the room staying silent when he stopped talking. As no one had any more questions, Honey indicated to Mrs. Woo that they had to leave. Mrs. Woo nodded and ushered Warren to the back, taking them both back up into the restaurant.
"Everything all right, Warren?" Honey asked as they headed back to the Lab.
He was silent for a moment, then looked at her in the driver's seat, frowning. "You're the informant for the rebels, aren't you?"
She nodded. "It was Blossom's idea, actually. I could give the rebels enough information to make them believe what I said, and then when it was needed, I could feed them the wrong information to capture a rebel or two."
"Why would you need to capture rebels?"
"The Mad Professor sometimes needed volunteers, and none of the recruits were willing. I only did it when I was sure that they wouldn't die," Honey added.
"He experimented on people?"
"Only for the first year. Blossom stopped him," she replied. "There are some things that not even she agrees with, and experimentation on human, animal, or plant life forms is one."
"How'd she stop him? She's second tier," Warren said.
"You'll have to ask Blossom that, not me," Honey replied with a shrug. "We're almost there. Get in the back and hide."
Warren did as she said without question and silence reigned as Honey drove up to the Lab's gate. She parked in the undercover parking lot and gathered her things.
"After I've closed the door, wait exactly five minutes and twenty-three seconds, then get out and go straight to your apartment," Honey said clearly.
She opened the car door, waited ten full seconds as she procrastinated with her handbag, then closed the door abruptly. Honey headed over to the elevators, smiling as two six tiers came out, stopping for her once they had exited. She gave a brief nod and went into the elevator, going up to her apartment.
"Hi Honey. Good day out?" Simon asked from the kitchen as she came inside.
"Very productive. What did you do today?" Honey asked, walking into the kitchen and noting that he was still in the same outfit.
"Went out running for a while, then I came home and I've been cooking a stew for dinner."
"Sounds lovely," she said, kissing him briefly.
He grinned against her lips, kissing her back heatedly. Honey wrapped her arms around Simon's neck, his hands against the small of her back. A bubbling noise sounded behind them and Honey pulled away so Simon could concentrate on dinner again.
"Hold that thought for me?" he asked, grinning.
"All right," Honey said a little reluctantly, licking her lips. "I'll be in my meditation room. Call me for dinner?"
"Okay. Take some water in with you, you don't want to get dehydrated like last time."
She nodded, taking a bottle of water from the fridge before heading into her room. Honey closed the door behind her and settled herself down on the large pillow on the floor. She shut her eyes and breathed deeply, slipping into her familiar rhythm easily.
...
In three days time, Warren would challenge Blossom for the second tier. She would accept, obviously, but the fight would be postponed while South Africa was still so unstable. They would have to go to the country again so the Mad Professor could get more samples and test his antidote against the weed killer that had harmed Blossom. The first two wouldn't work, but the third would. Unfortunately, a trip that was only meant to be for three weeks would last much longer than that, and it would be three months before they returned to the Lab.
In that time, Warren would have practiced against all of the tier's recruits, bettering his power and strengthening his ability to heal. He wasn't a complete healer like other recruits, but a fist to the face didn't bother him as it might others, cuts healed in a day, and he was very hard to bruise (Blossom knew that intimately, and before they left for South Africa, she would make sure that her fingerprints bruised his shoulders; the bruises stayed there for two whole days). Due to the delay in the second tier fight, citizens were allowed to witness the training sessions, and they were broadcast across the globe as well. The training rules were different to the actual tier challenges, the main rule being that there was no time limit. Whoever lasted the longest was declared the winner. Of course, that didn't stop people from trying to beat their personal best times.
Craig, a fifth tier recruit who could create himself into a carbon copy of anyone he liked, would demonstrate just how far he'd come since Sky High. Warren would be surprised at first, realising that Craig had worked on his ability until he could recreate the person's power too. Then he would be caught up in the fact that he was essentially fighting himself, Craig slipping into Warren's form with a smug smirk - in the crowd, there would be a collective gasp as people thought of the same thing happening in the bedroom (someone might even write a book about it and become a very successful yaoi author). The fight would go on for nearly an hour before Warren realised that just because Craig had his physical form and power, it didn't mean that he could think like him too. After that realisation, the fight would be over in five minutes, Warren cornering him and sending a barrage of fireballs at Craig, who attempted to switch forms to get away from what he thought would be a harmful amount of fire. (If he'd stayed in Warren's form, he would have discovered that Warren's body - even a carbon copy - was immune to fire.)
The rest of the practice sessions would demonstrate just how much Warren's power had grown over the years, but Honey gently guided her vision away from them. With the training sessions broadcast across the globe, she knew that she would be watching them with Blossom in South Africa anyway.
Warren would want to come to South Africa with them, but the Mad Professor would deny his request, wanting to keep the former-rebel in the Lab while he still could. There would be a fierce argument about that between Warren and Blossom, and the holes in the apartment would need to be repaired before they left (not all of them would be from Warren's fireballs; Blossom could be just as destructive with her vines and plants).
Honey smiled on realising that Simon would be allowed to come with her to South Africa (in fact, he refused to get out of the plane and would be brought along grudgingly, but that's not the point). It would be his first time overseas and she would show him the markets, and he'd make her take a ridiculous photo of him that made it look as though he was lifting the Wall, but she'd still laugh and he'd smile that smile of his that always made her wonder what he was thinking. (Simon would cajole her into taking a similar photo and they'd get both pictures framed when they got back.)
There was a light knock at the door, and Honey opened her eyes, blinking a few times rapidly to adjust her eyes to the room around her once more. She took a long drink of water before answering, her throat too dry to talk.
"Yes?"
"Dinner's ready, Honey. Do you want me to put yours in the oven to keep it warm?" Simon offered, opening the door to look at her.
"No, I'll eat with you," she said with a smile. "Help me up?"
Simon had her in his arms in a heartbeat, running out of the room and stopping by the dining table abruptly. He gently let her stand on her feet again and pulled out her chair for her. Honey turned and kissed him luxuriously, a possible future already slipping away and making her body tremble. (Normally, Simon would have helped her to her feet and they would walk to the dining table together. It was such a small moment to change, but the effect on her power made her shiver all over. Honey would be repaying the favour later that night in the bedroom.)
"I'm going to South Africa again this Friday," Honey mentioned as he served her stew.
Simon almost dropped the bowl as he turned to look at her. "Again? What about last time? They tried to kill you!"
"They tried to kill Blossom, actually; I just got in the way. Don't worry, they won't try again for at least two weeks," she said, taking the bowl from him before he really did drop it.
Simon was silent for a moment, and Honey could tell that he was trying not to forbid her from going. (The words were on the tip of his tongue, but if he said them, then they'd argue about it. One possible future shifted slightly; Simon would be sleeping on the couch until Friday when she left for South Africa, but in this future, he wouldn't come with her.)
"Would you like to come with me?" Honey offered before they could fight; she wasn't about to let this possible future ruin the one she'd seen earlier.
He nodded. "Yes, I would love to. Are you sure I can? Blossom and the Mad Professor have never let me go with you before."
"They will this time, I'll make sure of it," Honey said firmly.
Simon breathed a sigh of relief and pressed a kiss to her cheek as he passed her to sit down and eat his dinner.
...
"Honey, you know the rules. Simon can't come with us; he's just going to be a distraction for you," Blossom murmured, keeping her voice low.
"Yes, I do know the rules. I helped you make them, remember? Do you really think that I would have brought Simon onto the plane if I didn't think that he could come with us? He needs to come, and I need my husband with me."
"Why?"
"The same reason you can't let yourself bring Warren along," Honey pointed out with a slight smirk.
"You can have sex with Simon when you get back; we're not going for that long."
"Three weeks will become three months, Blossom. I'm not leaving Simon behind, and he's not going to get off the plane, even if you try to make him."
"Really?" Blossom asked curiously.
"Yes, really. He's stronger than you think, you know."
Blossom sighed and looked over to where Simon was sitting, looking straight ahead and trying not to be obvious in his eavesdropping.
"Fine, he can come. But make him part of the security detail; we can't have him along if he's not going to be of any use."
"He'll help the security guards in two weeks' time," Honey murmured, looking ahead to when Blossom's would-be assassin tried to kill her again and Simon was the only one fast enough to catch him.
"So long as he's useful, I don't want to know the how. Come on, let's get going before I drag Warren onto the plane," she muttered.
"He might be useful," Honey offered.
(A glance to one of the futures showed him literally smoking out the rebels in South Africa and capturing them for trying to hurt Blossom. Although, that future might come to pass in another year as well.)
"No, he'll be a distraction, we both know that. Besides, he needs to practice before he can fight me."
"And someone needs to finish repairing and painting your apartment," Honey added with a quick grin.
Blossom reddened slightly. "It's his fault that there's twelve holes in the walls, so he can stay to fix them."
"Please, seven of those weren't even his."
"That's not the point."
Honey laughed softly. "Oh, believe me, I know. Come on, you go sit down and I'll tell Skip that we're ready to go."
Blossom nodded and went to her seat. Honey smiled over at her husband, amused to see him still pretending that he hadn't been listening to everything they'd said. She headed down to the cockpit where Skip and his co-pilot were waiting for the go-ahead.
"We're ready now, Skip," she said.
"Thanks, Honey. The crew'll get everything sorted and we'll be up in the air in five minutes," he replied, turning to start the plane.
It would actually take ten minutes to finalise everything, but she simply nodded and returned to her seat beside Simon. Honey took his hand and closed her eyes, breathing deeply and trying to keep her body relaxed. She hated flying, but this time Simon was with her, and he always knew how to calm her down. He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and stroked her skin with his thumb gently.
Fifteen minutes after they were in the air and the seatbelt sign had been turned off, Simon would reveal the bag of home-made cookies he'd snuck on board to help calm her down. They'd help, but Simon holding her through four bouts of turbulence would help her more. Skip was a seasoned pilot, and despite the turbulence, they would arrive safely in South Africa the next morning. For the first time in her memory, Honey would actually sleep on the plane without tossing and turning, Simon's arm around her as she slept in his embrace.
Honey sighed contentedly, glad that Simon was with her this time. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand gently.
"Everything will be all right, Honey. I'm right here with you; there's nothing to worry about."
"I know. Thank you, Simon," she said with a smile, resting her head on his shoulder.
Honey knew that no matter what happened, Simon would always be beside her, and together they could deal with anything.
...
End of the seventh chapter.
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!
